Technics To Analog Turntable Legend

The DJing community and the greater dance music scene mourns the loss of a clubbing staple today.  No, Steve Aoki hasn’t hung up his record bag, but rather news has emerged that iconic turntable manufacturers Technics will be stopping production on their universally loved Technics 1200s and Technics 1210s.

In a statement re-posted on dance board Global Hardstyle, the company behind the production of the Technics turntables Panasonic announced that they would cease the manufacture of Tehcnics turntables in February next year, citing an increasing decline in sales as the motivation behind the line’s demise.

The Australian arm of Panasonic issued a similar statement today, expressing their disappointment that the brand’s 35 years-and-running legacy was to be put to bed.

“It is a sad day today but due to low sales globally in analogue turntables a decision to stop production has been made on Technics Turntables,” Panasonic spokesman Ian North explained. “For Australia this means we will receive our last shipment in March.”

With the disappearance of Technics decks now imminent it’s becoming increasingly clear that the digital juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down. We’ve already heard from trance icon Tiesto how he’s abandoned the ‘outdated’ medium in favour and gone for the ease and accessibility of digital tune libraries. Indeed, the new (and might we just say super-sexy) CDJ-2000s from Pioneer look to be making things easier than ever before with USB stick functionality, employed just last weekend by another digital convert Sasha.

Whilst we’re sure the classic Technics turntables will live on in the hearts of many club-reverent folk out there – not to mention in more than a few purist clubs – it’s still a crushing blow to lose the decks, and if nobody minds, we’ll be bringing beer o’clock around early this Friday afternoon.

[Via: In The Mix]

LMFAO Official Afterparty 11.28.09 – Video Flyer

Here’s my first go round at making one of those video flyers.  I hope you like it!  The concert @ HOB will sell out this weekend, so see what you’ll be getting into when you come to the afterparty @ Ultra Nightclub…. 1212 W. 6th St Cleveland. Doors open at 10pm:

Detroit’s Pontiac Silverdome Sold For Peanuts

 

Facing a budget deficit of $6 million on top of already being $103 million in debt, on top of 35% unemployment, Pontiac, Michigan is definitely in a financial crisis.  What’s the best way to get yourself some emergency funds?  Have a fire sale!  Just yesterday, Toronto developer Andreas Apostolopoulos, CEO of Triple Properties Inc., purchased the Pontiac Silverdome at auction for, get this, $583,000.  Man, that’s worse than a fire sale.  That’s like when crackheads come to the barber shop selling brand new hijacked Rolex’s for fifty bucks.

Apostolopoulos says, “It’s not the price you pay to buy it. It’s the price you pay to fix and carry it over. That is where the big money is going to go.”  But still, $583k for a stadium that holds 83,000 people, where the Lions played until 2002, which cost taxpayers $55 million in 1975 is literally peanuts.  Pontiac stands to collect $420,000 after taxes from the sale, but it’s incredibly far from its goal of $7 million.  Sad…sad…sad…

Soda vs Pop…. You Decide

Ran across this on that there interweb thingy…. A graphical display of how ludicrous any who does not use the word, “pop” is.  J/k, it’s a map of how scientific minds spend their free time… ugh…. it’s a map of what people call soft drinks around the country…. there!

 

LMFAO’s “Party Rock Tour” Official Afterparty in Cleveland, OH

LMFAO's Party Rock Tour Official Afterparty at Ultra

So it is finally time to announce that Ultra will be hosting the official afterparty for LMFAO’s, “Party Rock Tour,” when it touches down in Cleveland.  I’ve personally been waiting a long time to see these guys perform live here where I live.  They have been blowing up on the charts since their album dropped earlier this year and they have been on fire remixing tracks from here to kingdom come for some time now.  I’m sooo geeked that we got them coming to Ultra.

Not only will LMFAO be gracing us with their presence, but we also will have Shwayze w/ Cisco Adler, Far East Movement, Paradiso Girls, and Shwayze’s dj, Jason Smith!  That’s like the ultimate bonus to seeing them perform live onstage.  Check them out in an intimate environment.  There may also be live performances at the club (you’ll have to wait and see!).  Be sure to check out the concert first though, because I’ve heard that you haven’t lived until you went to see LMFAO, and HOB is almost sold out (Get tix here).

Tickets for the afterparty are available NOW!  There are a limited number of early bird tickets.  You can purchase them RIGHT HERE.

VIP table packages are also up for grabs, please contact Marcus at 216.970.2871 for more details.  Saturday, November 28th will be known after as “the day LMFAO destroyed Cleveland)….. LMFAO!!!!!

November Is Now “Movember.” My Quest For Prostate Awareness

 

Hey all…. So I have been thinking about trying to work more charitable causes into my repertoire in the last year or so…. You get that?  I said I was “thinking about trying.”  I feel that that’s kinda a bullshit way to go about getting things done, in case you were wondering.  So a friend of mine says he’s got this thing he wants to talk to me about.  He sits me down and he’s all about this Movember movement.  Totally befuddled, I ask him to tell me more.  On a basic level, it’s men growing mustaches for the month of November to raise awareness about Prostate Cancer.  Now if you know about PC, you know it’s affecting larger and larger amounts of men, and over 40 your risk goes way up.  Guess what’s the largest sector of the population right now?  Baby Boomers.  Guess who’s gonna be over 40 one day (if i’m lucky)?  This guy.  So I’d kinda like to put that disease to rest, kinda like the Mumps in this country….

So while you’re growing your ’stache, you solicit donations from people to be given to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (responsible for that Livestrong gear).  Kind of like the breast cancer stuff where everyone wears pink and gathers donations, goes on walks, etc.   Then, at the end of the month, you celebrate the mustache with your very own Movember party, giving out awards for the best ’staches.  Oh, and they even have their own lingo.  A participating man is called, “Mo Bros” and women who are inclined to help raise money on their own are called, “Mo Sistas.”  Got it so far?

So we started a team here in Cleveland called, “Cleveland’s Mo Bros (you can join our team here),” but women are more than welcome to join.  We figure this year we’ll just be getting the word out locally, then build as we move forward year after year.  I’m already planning the party, I’m thinking about having the mustache king, Graham Funke come in and spin.  I’ve seen people advertising that Mustache May party… This takes the party concept to the next level by adding a charitable aspect to it.

To learn more about Movember, check out their page here

To keep up my progress, see my updates, and make a donation, click here

To follow me on twitter, click here

To find out everything you wanted to know about life (online) click here, lol

Droid Does

Droid Does

Have you seen these totally vague and random commercials using some fairly obscure, peppy song and mocking the iPhone?  It’s for the Droid phone, which is the Android 2.0 operating system from (drumroll please), Google!  These guys continue to push the envelope and the Droid is no exception.  In case you are wondering, they are also buying up mass amounts of fiber optic bandwith, so be expecting Google to offer mass market, high speed internet service in the upcoming years as well.

Some interesting points from this article I found on Business Week:

- “Not since the launch of the iPhone in 2007 has the announcement of a new product had as dramatic effect on the competitive landscape of the smartphone business as did Verizon Wireless’ Oct. 28 release of the Motorola Droid. The day after Droid, the handset, wireless networks, mapping, and navigation markets all look very different.”

- “Droid is no iPhone killer—the idea is silly—but it is a viable competitor.”

- “Suddenly, Apple seems to need Verizon more than Verizon needs Apple.”

- “Of course, the folks really weeping into their beer in the wake of the Droid announcement are map producers, and the makers of mapping software and navigation devices.”

- “Google’s free service pretty much blows up this economic model, especially since Google says it plans to make the software available to other phones and other operating systems.”

Read the full article HERE

Video Premiere of Ducksauce – Anyway

Told you abt this a while ago…. Ducksauce (It’s Armand Van Helden & A-Trak for the uninitiated), – Anyway, to be released Oct 26th on Data Records has just released the video for the song and it is pretty much exacly like I thought it would look like.  .  I would have made it look a little more disco-y instead of Jackson 5 Ed Sullivan -ish, but hell…. I just dig the song.  You should too.  It’s pretty much the song of the year… get familiar

New Cuyahoga Now Event Monday

Hey everybody…. For those of you who know me, you know I never bring stuff to you that’s b.s.  I’ve always been a straight shooter and been calling a spade a spade ‘81.  So here’s an event that I’m proud to say that I’m co-hosting.  Go to the website and educate yourself about Issues 5 and 6.

To over simplify it…. Issue 5 will keep our existing 3 person commissioner system and some outside party will do a study to see how we can fix that.  But of course it’ll cost money and happen at some point down the line.  Worst case scenario nothing will change and we will have wasted that almighty dollar.

Issue 6 will scrap what we have now and institute a single executive who takes the fall when the shit hits the fan.  Advising him will be a council who represents the constituents of Cuyahoga County.  That’ll happen like yesterday (in political terms of course, lol).

Please RSVP to robyn.smyers@sbcglobal.net

So some say Issue 5 is bunk because it’s something done in the future and nothing will happen now, plus there’s the chance that nothing will get fixed and we’ll be doing this again next election.

Some say Issue 6 is bunk because it will prob not fix everything and we won’t be able to elect our own coroner for example.  It puts our fate in the hands of officials that the single executive will be appointing.

I say 6 because the blame is easier to pin.  As it stands now, Hagan and Dimora are both being accused of some serious quid pro quo and ethics charges, so the system is already flawed.  I’m not on the level that I need to pick a sheriff or a coroner or a auditor or whomever those random people on the ballot are.  I feel that the experts should stick to what they are good at.  If I elect someone to a high position, I base that off of character, time spent in office, intellectual capacity, and choice of boxers, briefs, or commando (j/k on that last part).  So if I elect them, I feel that they will take the necessary council to elect the right person for the job.  I am not capable of being that council, lol.  Plus that would be change RIGHT NOW.  It may not be the end all be all, but at least we tried, and can fix it from there.  But everyone knows it isn’t working now, so we have to try SOMETHING. 

Please RSVP to robyn.smyers@sbcglobal.net

Hence why I am- for the second time- co-chairing something political (cringe) because just like needing Josh Mandel in Columbus, Cuyahoga County needs change NOW! I hope you’ll agree with me and come out on Monday (see below). 

Please RSVP to robyn.smyers@sbcglobal.net.  Thanks!

Cuyahoga County Reform: Why You Should Care

Please join us to hear about Issue 6

Monday, October 19, 2009

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Speakeasy

1948 W. 25th Street

Cleveland

(Across from West Side Market; basement of McNulty’s Bier Market)

Issue 6 is important for the future of Cuyahoga County.

We must participate in shaping that future!

Host Committee

Ryan Anderson

Charmaine Brown

Jennifer Carroll

Conor M. Coakley

Andrew Coleman

Tony Constantine

Jeffrey Epstein

Jose Feliciano, Jr.

Michael Goldberg

Elizabeth Hijar

Stephanie Howse

Romana Kulchytsky

Patrick Manfroni

Kevin Murphy

Ruth Ramos

Keshia Johnson

Raseem Parker

Rachel Perry

Nick Russo

Richik Sarkar

Marcus Sims

Robyn Minter Smyers

Laura Steinbrink

Jason Therrien

Jeffrey Wild

Daniel Young

RSVP by October 16 to

robyn.smyers@sbcglobal.net

Paid for by New Cuyahoga, Don Scipione, Treasure, 3821 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

www.NewCuyahoga.com

Barack The Peacemaker And AM The Beatmaker

2 men VERY well respected for their body of work…. I felt like I had the DJ AM juices goin earlier, so I figured I’d make a nice tie in with the two…. Check it out…

DJ AM pushed the envelope to new heights back in 2008 at the HARDfest Halloween Mansion. He made electronic music relevant to the mainstream with an incredible homage to French born, Daft Punk. There were a lot of eyebrows raised when DP was announced to co-headline the show. A man came out dressed as DP w/ the robot helmet and everything, played a great DP infused set and everyone thought that it was DP…. Then all of a sudden, Aerodynamic hits the crowd’s ears. But this wasn’t just the original, it was a remix by Adam Freeland, made for then Senator Obama’s run for the White House. When the speak and spell O-B-A-M-A came on, it just kept repeating A-M, A-M, A-M.

Then DJ AM took the mask off and showed off his custom made ‘DJ AM Punk’ leather jacket and the bar was set yet again.

So President Barack Obama just won the Nobel Peace Prize recently and that is some kind of accomplishment. Only the 2nd sitting president to win the award (kudos). This win put the world on notice that America is going to change the game (again). We’re putting the rails down to get back on track. From one game changer to another, to another…. stay tuned, because ch-ch-change is still comin. RIP DJ AM…. make sure to catch his new series tonight at 10 on MTV. Shouts to all the LA homies who knew him well….. @fashen, @steve1der, @deejayspider, @skeetonmytwitts, @djspryte, @djtinat, @paserock, @deckstar, @grahamfunke, @theemikeb, @thecobrasnake

Btw, here’s the Aerodynamic Remix in case you’ve never heard it (cool video too!)